When a patient is to be transfused, an indwelling needle is sometimes provided in a blood vessel (vein). Manipulation is carried out such that the indwelling needle punctures a blood vessel first and then blood is introduced into a syringe or the like from the puncture needle, whereafter a flashback is confirmed and then the puncture needle is removed while only a catheter is left in the blood vessel.
In order to indwell the catheter certainly in the blood vessel, it is desirable to insert the catheter rather deeply in the blood vessel. To this end, after the indwelling needle punctures the blood vessel, a guide wire is fed out by a suitable amount from the puncture needle into the blood vessel, and then the puncture needle is pulled out with the guide wire left in the blood vessel. Thereafter, the catheter is inserted into the blood vessel along the guide wire. This achieves smooth and reliable insertion of the catheter. Such an indwelling needle with which a guide wire is combined is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 3912460.
The introductory device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3912460 has a main tube provided between an indwelling needle and a syringe, and a guide tube connected obliquely to the main port, and pushes out a guide wire from the guide tube toward the indwelling needle.
Since the guide wire is very pliant from its nature, if it is not pushed out straightforwardly, then it is bent. Therefore, in the introductory device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3912460, a wire slide mechanism for guiding the guide wire is provided on the guide tube. In this wire slide mechanism, the slide tube is slidably moved along the guide tube to push out the guide wire, and consequently, the guide wire can be prevented from being bent.
On the other hand, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-000209, a puncture device is proposed wherein an introduction path for a guide wire and a connection path for a syringe are communicated with a puncture needle at a distal end of the puncture device. With this puncture device, the puncture needle punctures the blood vessel first to carry out a flashback to the syringe to confirm that the puncture needle punctures a vein, and then the guide wire can be introduced into the vein from the side port of the puncture device favorably.
With the introductory device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3912460, the guide wire can be pushed out substantially straightforwardly and can be prevented from being bent. However, to this end, the slide tube has a linear fixed structure. Accordingly, when the guide wire is pushed out, there is no degree of freedom in operation. Thus, adjustment of the location for manipulation or of the guide wire to a direction in which the operator can carry out the manipulation cannot be carried out. Particularly when the guide wire is fed out into a blood vessel after the puncture of the puncture needle, the main body of the syringe or the like is supported by a hand of a person, and in order to allow the introductory device to be operated by one hand, it is preferable for the pushing out direction of the guide wire to be adjusted relative to the main body.